Gwh didn''t know if she would regret giving up on Hawthorne, but right now, she had no desire to fight for him.


    She had watched her mother and Violet tear each other apart over her father years ago, and in the end, neither was a true winner.


    Violet was still in prison and would likely spend the rest of her life there, never to see the light of day again.


    Gwh knew the Langford patriarch had a hand in that; he would never allow that woman to appear before their family again.


    As for her mother, she had seemingly won everything in that love triangle, but with her father in a vegetative state from which he would never wake, she had raised three children all by herself.


    Gwh didn''t want to dwell on the hardships of those years.


    In the battlefield of love, there are no absolute victors.


    The examples she had witnessed were too tragic, and now that it was her turn, she refused to go down the same path.


    As a mother, a woman, and someone who had been through it all, Victoria had a general sense of what her daughter was thinking.


    She had said all she could, and pushing any further would only pressure and corner Gwh.


    Based on the information Victoria had, if Hawthorne was truly entangled with that Patti Yale, she wouldn''t allow Gwh to stay with him either.


    But since that wasn''t the case, Victoria decided to give her son-inw another chance.


    She couldn''t interfere in matters of the heart; the young couple had to resolve it themselves.


    Gwh managed a natural smile for her mother.


    "Mom, I''m all grown up now. I''m a married woman. You don''t need to worry about me. If you''re going to worry, worry about Chris and Celia. Chris has that cold, difficult personality and doesn''t even have a girlfriend yet. And Celia has impossibly high standards, looking down on every man she meets. All I need to do is learn how to be a wife and mother. Those two are still just kids."


    The thought of Chris and Celia made Victoria sigh.


    They had both inherited McNeil''s temperament-cool and proud.


    Victoria had agonized over finding a suitable match for Gwh.


    It seemed no one in all of Starfall City was good enough.


    And if it was just about family status, no one dared im to be number one if the Langfords were number two.


    The choices were indeed slim.


    Thankfully, by a twist of fate, Gwh had gone to Greenvale and met Hawthorne.


    Otherwise, Victoria would still be stressing over finding her a husband.


    "Alright, alright. I know you''re a big girl now and think your mother is nagging I won''t say any more. Take care of yourself, and handle your own affairs. If you can''t, you know you can alwayse to me."


    Gwh nodded obediently.


    After chatting a little longer, she saw Victoria out.


    She needed to quiet her mind, stop thinking about Hawthorne, and focus on her work.


    After returning to Greenvale,


    Hawthorne made a point to video et


    call Gwh every day, but she never Soup.


    Left with no other choice, he resorted to his old trick and sent her text messages.


    Her replies were always brief, usually just one or two words before she went silent again.


    Hawthorne sat in the leather executive chair in his office, staring nkly at his phone.


    He only put it away when someone entered.


    "Hawthorne..." Patti Yale swayed as she walked in on four-inch heels, the sharp clicks of her stilettos.gehoing belongs


    on the marble floor Contorn